


Back to Work - A Workforce Epilogue

by LeftyVoyager



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-13 01:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4503279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeftyVoyager/pseuds/LeftyVoyager
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Janeway attempts to come back to duty too quickly after her experiences on Quarra, but Chakotay tries to comfort her.</p><p>Picnic lunch brought to you by Neelix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Back to Work - A Workforce Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a result of a combination of a Facebook request for a story where Chakotay brings a picnic lunch to the ready room and the fact that I just re-watched Workforce one and two.
> 
> I believe some folks mistakenly think that Kathryn and Chakotay drifted apart in season 7 just because the romance never happened on screen. I would prefer to believe that they both firmly knew there was a line that couldn't be crossed. Their platonic friendship is actually stronger than ever. Season 7 is very J/C - re-watch it!

Janeway re-read the same report for about the 14th time. She was having a very hard time focusing and was hoping Chakotay hadn't noticed. She wondered how long she would have to keep up the charade before running off to hide in her ready room. She was attempting to set a "good example" to all of her crew who were also recovering from the mind control treatments they were subjected to on Quarra. But you were the one who had to grow close to someone, sleep with him, move in with him, she thought. A few others had started relationships as well, but hers was the only one that moved so fast. Looking back, Jaffen seemed very pushy to her. How could she let this happen? Without the responsibility of a starship, would she really be so quick to let a man into her life? She couldn't imagine. It's exactly the sort of thing she would normally be warning her younger sister about.

Chakotay glanced over at the captain after the third time he noticed her mouth a curse. As her eyes met his, he gave her a sympathetic look. He knew this wouldn't be easy for her. Not only did she have to get her bearings back, but he knew she would be struggling with her actions that she had already admitted to him felt out of character to her. The Doctor had tried to explain that she had been manipulated by the aliens to do things that would make her content with her new life. That just because she did these things, it doesn't mean anything other than she was responding to new mental programming. But Chakotay knew her. She has always controlled everything she does and says to the maximum benefit for the ship. Her care free "let's give it a try" attitude on Quarra and her willingness to "stay in one place" would be disturbing to her.

She caught him nearly laugh out loud. "What's so funny?" she asked in an annoyed whisper.

"I'm sorry. When I first found you on Quarra. You asked me why you would want the responsibility of being a captain and if I ever wanted to stay in one place. It was such a reversal of positions. I didn't have time to catch the irony until now." He kept his voice low as well.

She rubbed her forehead. "I know. I remember saying it. Believing it. But it is the exact opposite of what I want."

Paris overheard the conversation. "Captain, if I may speak freely, I was programmed to think space travel made me sick. That's not who I am, either."

"Thank you, Mr. Paris." She did NOT want to chat with her bridge crew about this. "I'll be in my ready room." The only thing she could think of was retreat. Retreat to the room where an hour ago, she had explained to her new lover that it would be inappropriate to "fraternize" with him if he joined her on Voyager, which was not something he was interested in anyway. Her emotions were all over the place, but she wasn't very sure if it was more the fact that he didn't want to stay or she didn't want it to have happened that was actually affecting her. Now, regardless, it was over, and the her ship was speeding away from Jaffen at warp 6. No - towards home, she reprimanded herself.

While the captain was in her office, Neelix entered the bridge with a picnic basket and approached Chakotay. "Sir, I figured the captain would be too busy to attend the crew picnic today, so I thought I'd bring the picnic to her."

"That's very thoughtful, Neelix. She's in her ready room," said the commander.

Neelix shuffled a little. "Actually, there's enough for two, and I've already eaten. Perhaps you could share it with her, Commander."

"I'll give that a try. Thanks," said Chakotay. As the Talaxian left the bridge, he rang the ready room door chime, basket in hand.

Janeway bid him to enter, and the door swished close behind her.

"Permission to dine with the captain? I think your morale officer sensed you wouldn't be feeling very social today," said Chakotay, holding up the picnic basket. 

"He would be correct. Granted. Though, I'm not very hungry."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

She sighed, "Of course not."

They began to catalogue the contents of the basket. First, a blanket, that Chakotay set on the floor as if it was a grassy field.

"I think we'll save this for later," laughed Janeway, pulling out a bottle of wine. She watched Chakotay pull out plates and table settings and set them up on the blanket. Chakotay was always so thoughtful, always putting her needs first and well versed in Starfleet protocols. If he had been more assertive, like Jaffen, would she have been able to resist him, she wondered.

"Well, what else is in there?" asked Chakotay, pulling her out of her reverie.

Startled, she tried to cover it by diving back into the basket. "Let's see - we have sandwiches and salads. Potato salad, coleslaw, macaroni salad. And cucumber sandwiches. And it looks like we have ham and cheese and bologna."

As she took the items out of the basket, Chakotay looked over her shoulder. "And mustard, mayonnaise and a jar of pickles. And apples and bananas. Neelix has outdone himself." He reached into the basket and allowed his hand to brush against hers and linger a little longer than necessary.

"Chakotay," warned the captain.

He smiled and took her hands. "Relax. I'm here as a friend. What I give, I give freely. I don't expect anything in return. It's just hand holding."

"But don't you ever wish..?"

"Kathryn. Last time I checked, I'm a man, and you're a beautiful woman. I will always want something more between us. But I am smart enough to know how complicated that can be for us. And I've already seen first hand the consequences of loose policies around fraternization. Her name is Seska. So, let's be careful, but not fearful of each other. I will never push you," said Chakotay.

She stood up and walked a few steps away from him, breaking their contact. "Jaffen didn't hesitate to push. I even tried to push him away, and he never gave up. Then I ran out of reasons to refuse him."

"Kathryn, in your mind, you didn't have a ship. You lived alone, not even relatives to take care of. You were free. You didn't lose control. You didn't have a reason to control," Chakotay argued, approaching her.

She sighed. "You know, I don't miss him. I miss how it made me feel to be in love."

He couldn't see her face directly. He was only able to see her reflection in the window. She looked so sad it took his breath away. "Tis better to have loved and lost," he quoted.

"Than never to have loved at all," she finished. "How is it that I allow you to be so right all the time?" she joked.

He smiled. "That's just one of the many things you have no control over."

"Well, let's go control lunch," she went back to the basket. They finished gathering all the pieces of their meal and sat on the blanket.

"What made Neelix think of a picnic? He didn't even put leola root into any of the food," commented Chakotay.

"He looked in the database. He wanted a meal that would comfort the human crew and remind them of family and home," said Janeway, squeezing some mustard onto her bologna sandwhich.

Chakotay studied her, absently scooping some coleslaw onto his plate. "Is it working?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly, "but it is nice."

"I'm glad," said Chakotay. 

They ate in silence for a few minutes, sitting across from one another on the blanket. When they finished, she smiled at him. "I want to thank you again, Chakotay. You saved us all. They way you tried to convince me we were friends. I think you must have infinite patience."

Chakotay smiled back and paused, remembering not to mention the time he had to similarly convince her past self that they would become friends. "It's what I do," he said simply. He gave her a hard look. "You will be all right, yes?"

"Yes," she answered. "But I do think I need time to sort it out. You don't mind watching the store for me, do you?"

"Whatever you need me to do, Captain," answered Chakotay, actually making her title sound like a term of endearment.

Janeway shook her head. "I don't deserve you, Commander." They cleaned up the remains of the picnic and continued with the rest of their day.

The End.


End file.
